Abbott Announces 2014 Q1 Results
Abbott yesterday revealed financial results for the first quarter of 2014. The company announced worldwide sales of $5.2 billion.
Excluding foreign exchange, the company-wide results included an increase of 0.5% on an operational basis and a decrease of 2.5% on a reported basis.
International sales, which make up over 70% of Abbott’s total sales, increased by 1.8% on an operational basis and decreased by 2.3% on a reported basis.
The sales disruption for International Nutrition in August 2013, alongside the timing of supply of key products in Established Pharmaceuticals, primarily related to a plant shutdown for capacity expansion purposes, are estimated to have reduced Abbott’s global sales growth by around 2.6 percentage points.
Miles D. White, chairman and chief executive officer at Abbott commented: “we are off to a good start, and we continue to expect accelerating performance beginning in the second quarter as we target another year of double-digit ongoing earnings-per-share growth.”
The company revealed ongoing diluted earnings-per-share of $0.41, higher than the previous guidance range of $0.34 to $0.36. Abbott confirmed their full-year 2014 ongoing earnings-per-share guidance of $2.16 to $2.26, representing double-digit growth at the mid-point of the guidance range.
Sales in the established pharmaceuticals division dropped 0.7% on an operational basis and 6.6% on a reported basis.
Abbott have launched numerous new products in the first quarter of 2014. These products include Supera peripheral stent in the U.S. for the treatment of blockages in the superficial femoral artery; Similac with OptiGRO™ in the US; Eleva infant formula in China; and a new diabetes test on the ARCHITECT platform in the U.S.
Key Emerging Markets including India, Russia, Brazil, and China, along with ten additional emerging markets, represent the most attractive long-term growth opportunities for Abbott’s branded generic pharmaceutical product portfolio.